How can I reuse or recycle old sofa foam/foam cushions?
We’ve got a reasonably large pile of old upholstery/sofa foam – some flat and square, other bits random shaped.
We dismantled a very old (but beloved) sofa at the weekend – some of our collection came from that, with other cushions/padding from other people getting rid of sofas/cushions, or ones that have been used as padding during house moves at one time or another.
We’ve used some of the foam cushions to make a little sheltered bed in our greenhouse for the local stray cat but don’t know what to do with the rest of it.
Any suggestions?
Is it possible to use it for insulation somewhere, say in the attic?
If shreded – it could be used for stuffing toys and cushions. You can offer it to a toy store, or a furniture restoration shop – they will use it for seat cushions etc.
We used old foam one year to make an awesome Halloween costume. We sculpted it into the shape of a Ninja Turtle, used a hot glue gun to put it together, and spray painted it green. It looked really good!
make it new like other sofa
how can you a old bags
If the sofa is older than 1988, it most probably would have been constructed with Polyurethane Foam (PUF) which would make it a fire hazard.
Furniture sold after 1988 should contain flame retardant chemicals that make the foam safer to reuse.
And much more cancerous for people. Flame retardant material has been proven to cause cancer.
We took apart our beloved sofa this summer as well. I think I’ve used almost ever part of the foam and fluffy stuff. I used the fluff as stuffing for toys and pillows. The foam I used to make cushions for a built-in sofa that my husband and I made. I basically took the foam and cut it to the sizes I needed, wrapped them in old plastic bags (for waterproofing, we have children) and made removable covers. They turned out really nice!
I used my parents old bit of sofa foam as a liner for my recurve bow case. Cut to shape it allows all my bow bits to rest neatly inside without falling about and getting damaged
make a dog or cat bed from a large sofa cushion by hollowing out the middle a little and make a cover to go over out of sheepskin
Not sure if you still have the foam but have you tried going to freecycle.org.uk. Basically people put things on there they want or (like in your case) things they don’t want. Then if someone wants it they will contact you and they will come pick it up
Use it to make a kneeling pad for when you are gardening, put it into sturdy plastic bag and seal the end up with tape.
Can you chop it up finely and mix it in with you garden soil – clay, clay and more clay (along with leaves and dryer lint – I got this idea from another chain like this)?
I putting a highly chemicalised made made thing such as this on your garden would pollute it and mean no-one could grow edible food in there for years to come, plus large hazard to any small children
It can be used as good fall break for stunts, or rock climbing, or gymnastics, etc.
I also have the same problem with 3 big sofas.I googled for a soution & didnt find any.As i am from India ,I thought to burn it as there is no such problem in burning unwanted things here.I took a small sample & lit the fire.It is making too much black smokes which is not a good idea ,neighbours may complain if we did so.
Climbing gym blocks are popular right now for babies – you could make cubes, triangular and rectangular blocks and wedges for them to climb on